Greater Victoria’s Ethical Canine Training & Behaviour Modification has been announced as one of six province-wide to be accredited as a humane trainer by BC SPCA’s new AnimalKind program. (File photo)

A Victoria dog trainer is one of six province-wide to be accredited as a humane trainer by BC SPCA’s new AnimalKind program.

With the dog training industry in B.C. unregulated, BC SPCA saw a need for creating a recommendation program to give dog owners confidence when choosing a trainer.

AnimalKind, launched Thursday, sets out reward-based training standards to ensure the humane treatment of dogs. The standards allow only positive reinforcement training and oppose any methods that use punishment, confrontation, or intimidation, or have the potential to cause physical or psychological harm to the animal.

Greater Victoria’s Ethical Canine Training & Behaviour Modification made the cut with its personalized private dog training that is “not only extremely effective but is kind, compassionate, and humane.”

The company is led by certified behavior consultant Allison Schaefer, who brings a decade of training and behavioural experience to her practice. She is also a registered veterinary technologist who graduated from Thompson Rivers University in 2005.

“I have been in the dog training industry for over 10 years and I am happy to see a progression towards more modern and humane training methods,” said Schaefer.

Schaefer serves on the Executive Board as well as the Education Committee of the Vancouver Island Animal Training Association and works to promote humane training and care of all animals in the Vancouver Island community.

“Accreditation programs such as AnimalKind benefit our industry and the public alike by providing transparency and accountability, and the BCSPCA has done extensive research into how and why motivational, reward-based training methods for dogs are not only the most humane but also highly effective,” Schaefer said.

The five other companies in B.C. accredited by AnimalKind are Bravo Dog in North Vancouver, Ocean Park Dog Training in Surrey, Yaletown Dog Training in Vancouver, Cowichan Canine Behaviour & Training in Duncan and Positive Dog in Nanaimo.